Link November 19 On-line Discussion

 Catskills Traditional Music and Dance

November 19, 2 pm to 4 pm

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/4140851861

If "Control - Click" does not take you to the meeting site, 

Copy and paste the link into the [https:] field at the top of your page,

then click at the end of the URL.  

Join Catskills Folk Connection on Saturday 

to discuss the future of Catskills traditional music and dance

Resources, open discussion, plan a future in-person event!

For more information, or help attending

 gscheer.mcs@gmail.com 

607-326-4206

Symposium Will be an On-Line Discussion This Year

Saturday November 19  

on Zoom    2 pm - 4 pm  FREE!

    It's not all square dancing in the Catskills!

The in-person Symposium that Catskills Folk Connection had hoped to present this month has been changed to an on-line event.  It will be a discussion, as planned, about Catskills traditional music and dance. Missing will be the in-person jam, the potluck supper, and the in-person square dance. The change was necessitated by fund restrictions and caution about Covid rates of infection and vaccination.    

The two hours of discussion (with breaks) should allow time for a lively conversation among dancers, musicians, dance organizers, folklorists, and cultural organizations about the current status of traditional music and dance in the Catskills.  By the end of the meeting we hope to have a consensus about what is needed for Catskills traditional music and dance to thrive in our region.  

Catskills Folk Connection's folklorist, Ginny Scheer, will host the meeting and will begin with a short video clip in recognition of the late Hilt and Stella Kelly, as a starting point for the open discussion.  Audience members may wish to talk about what is happening in their music and dance lives, or they may wish to focus immediately on the question about the future of traditional music and dance in the Catskills. 

Some audience members may have something to share, such as a short oral presentation, or materials such as a page or a photo.  If you think you'd like to share, please contact Ginny Scheer www.gscheer.mcs@gmail.com or 607-326-4206 as soon as possible and submit materials by Sunday, November 13. 

We are expecting musicians and dancers to attend from a number of genres that share the larger Catskills audience. Possible areas we might recommend for enrichment may be about performance opportunities and venues or about centralized marketing.  Or we may wish to discuss the need for archiving materials about past music and dance, or we may decide to emphasize education to involve younger members of our region's population.

Come join the discussion!  Share your experience in music and dance in the Catskills.  Advise Catskills Folk Connection how it might grow to meet the needs of Catskills traditional music and dance in the future.    

Contact:  Ginny Scheer, www.gscheer.mcs@gmail.com  607-326-4206

Catskills Folk Connection is sponsored by the Roxbury Arts Group and is funded by the New York State Council on the Arts Folk Art Program, by Gov. Hochul and the NYS Legislature, by Action and Vision Grants from HumanitiesNY, and by the O'Connor Foundation.  

  

        

entations of content.  

2022's Last Square Dance:

Moved Indoors at Same Address:

 53865 St. Hwy 28 (Main St.) 

Roxbury NY 12474

FREE!

Old-Time Catskills Square Dance

Photo courtesy Pine Hill Community Center.

Saturday, October 8   3-6 pm

Featuring

The Tremperskill Boys & Friends

Beginners welcome. Masks optional, but recommended. Donations appreciated.

More  info: gscheer.mcs@gmail.com or 607-326-4206

Exhibit "Folk Art in Metal," through October 15

 

There's Still Time to See The Exhibit "Folk Art in Metal"

At Hanford Mills Museum, 51 Co. Rt 12, East Meredith NY 13757

Art works drawn from nature, by coppersmith Mark Swanberry.

Iron tools and utensils that combine tradition and innovation, by blacksmith  Lucas Novko.

Whirlygigs made from Volkswagen Beetles, by Hans Hohn

Whimsical masks and figures made from farm implements, vehicles, tools, household utensils and appliances, by John Jackson.

And a surprise among the other works made from rustic, natural and recycled metal, you will find stainless steel furniture in mid-20th century style from Michael Radu. 

You can still see more of these wonderful works of metal art at "Folk Art in Metal," the exhibit now on display at Hanford Mills Museum, 51  Co. Rt. 12, East Meredith, NY  13757.  The Museum is open Wednesday through Sunday, 10 am - 4 pm.  Visiting the exhibit is free; there is a charge if you wish a tour of the water-powered woodworking mill.      

What you Missed:  

Hanford Mills Exploration Day

Saturday, September 24

 Featuring in-person demonstrations by two of the exhibit's artists:

John Jackson 

and Lucas Novko

Photo courtesy of the Farmer's Museum.

Cooperstown, NY

Catskills Folk Connection is sponsored by the Roxbury Arts Group and is funded in part by the NYS Council on the Arts Folk Art Program, by Gov. Hochul and the NYS Legislature, by Action &  Vision Grants from HumanitiesNY,  and by the O'Connor Foundation. 

For more information contact Ginny Scheer, folklorist, gscheer.mcs@gmail.com or 607-326-4206.

S 

Busy Weekend September 17 -18

 

ANNOUNCEMENTS

CATSKILLS FOLK CONNECTION   

This Saturday: Catskills Folk Connection's 5^th square dance of the summer takes place in Delhi, at United Ministry, 1 Church Street, off Main Street by the Courthouse.  This dance is described in press releases as “Square Dance Madness!" because we’re having more than one or two squares at dances these days. We’re looking for the same in Delhi and hope that the collection of dancers from the Walton Downsville area will come on over to Delhi -  this Saturday 7 pm at United Ministry on Courthouse Square in Delhi.

"Folk Art in Metal" exhibit artists' reception, September 4, 2022 

at Hanford Mills Museum's Feed Mill gallery

Catskills Folk Connection is also putting on its biennial folk art exhibit – it is the third in a series based on the material used for folk sculpture.  This one is called Folk Art in Metal and has attracted artists that work in iron, copper, or stainless steel, and artists who recycle old equipment to make entertaining sculptures for indoors and outdoors.  The exhibit can be seen at Hanford Mills Museum, East Meredith NY, on Wednesday – Sunday between 10 and 4.  All visitors are offered a tour of the historic mill (admission info on the website www.hanfordmills.org)  While there is a fee for the mill tour, the folk art exhibit is free.  Just sign up at the admissions office.  In addition to visiting the exhibit on regular museum tour days, there will be a special program called “Exploration Day” at the Mill on Saturday, September 24, in which some of the artists will demonstrate their artistic technique or talk about some unique aspect of their art work. Check the above website for details.

"Woodpile" a wall hanging in copper by Mark Swanberry.

 Last time on WIOX, 91.3 FM broadcast in the Catskills, and at www.wioxradio.org on the internet, Catskills Folk described the work of the blacksmith – Lucas Novko, the iron worker –  and introduced John Jackson the creator of whimsical outdoor sculptures made from old farm equipment and indoor sculptures made with household utensils and appliances.  This week's radio program will feature the coppersmith Mark Swanberry, the folk modern artist Michael Radu, who works in stainless steel, and we'll talk about the whirly gigs made from recycled Volkswagen Beetle parts by a             Margaretville auto mechanic.  

Also on tonight’s program on WIOX will be a description of the biennial Catskill Mountain Quilters Hall of Fame exhibit, this year called “Festival of Quilts”.  It will take place at Roxbury Arts Group, 5026 Vega Mountain Rd, in Roxbury on Saturday and Sunday, September 17 and 18.  10 am – 4 pm. I am hoping to have on the air tonight one of the Festival reps, Lucci Kelly or Pat Cumming.  There are many events associated with the Festival of Quilts, not the least of which is the induction of master quilters from the region into the Catskill Mountain Quilters Hall of Fame. These are quilters nominated by their guilds to be vetted and inducted by the Hall of Fame. There will also be quilters’ history books, a memorial display, raffled baskets, door prizes and the big one – a special quilt raffle.  I believe the raffled items will be announced on Sunday. Call ahead if you can’t go both days.  To see the raffle quilt, visit https://www.catskillmountainquiltershalloffame.com  and click on “2022 Show & Raffle”. 

Stay with us tonight on WIOX to hear quilt tradition bearer talk about their work and why the quilt show and the Hall of Fame are so important to them.

This weekend there are even more quilts and quilt events.  The Delaware County Historical Association is presenting an exhibit "Quilts Along the Delaware" Saturday & Sunday, September 10 & 11 - 17 & 18: 10am - 4pm.  After the opening weekend, quilts from the "Delaware County Town and Country Quilters" will be on display Tuesday September 13 - September 18 from 10am to 4pm. The Raffle Quilt, Vendor and Boutique will take place on the weekends. The raffle quilt drawing is Sunday September 18th at 3pm. Admission: $5.00.

 And to top it all off the Balkan Mountains Music Festival is taking place on  Saturday September 17, 3 to 7 pm at Glenbrook Park in Phoenicia NY.  For more information go to www.phoenicialibrary.org.  The festival features ethnic musical artists Zlatne Uste, Bourbon & Breast Milk, and Cherven Tractor.  This Cabin Fever Concert is sponsored by the Phenicia Library and Ulster Savings Bank.

 The above announcements don't even include what’s happening at the Ashokan Center, at the West Kortright Center, and at town and village festivals around the region!! There are many more events going on this weekend.  Lots of things to choose from. 

 

 

Folk Art in Metal?

 

Folk art usually brings to mind carved wood or quilted cloth. But folk art in metal has an equally long history and astonishing variety. You’ll be able to take in this profusion of creativity in copper, iron and steel at Catskills Folk Connection’s exhibit “Folk Art in Metal,” beginning Saturday September 3 at Hanford Mills Museum’s Feed Mill gallery, 51 County Route 12, East Meredith, NY, 13757. The next day, Sunday, September 4, there will be an artists’ reception at 1:30 pm. And on Saturday, September 24 several of the artists will demonstrate or present their work at the Museum’s Exploration Day.

"Forest  Litter", a wall piece by Mark Swanberry

Coppersmith Mark Swanberry took part in Catskills Folk Connection's first sculpture exhibit in 2019, “Folk Art in Stone,” but since then has immersed himself in making copper into naturalistic forms. Inspired by three generations of creative people in his family, he shapes the copper into leaves, nests, bark and other forest litter that he has seen on his regular woods walks. For the title panel of this exhibit he is bringing a large wall hanging in copper of a carefully stacked woodpile.

Hand Forged Whale by Lucas Novko.

Lucas Novko is a blacksmith that you may have encountered as an interpreter of historic blacksmithing at the Farmer’s Museum and at Hanford Mills Museum. “While my work is based on historic pieces and I try to keep to certain ironworking traditions, it is still me making the decision  (or even making aesthetic decisions on a whim while I'm forging) that fulfills my own sense of creativity.“ While he makes carefully crafted reproductions, Lucas will also display some of his original contemporary pieces.

Modernist Chair, fabricated in steel and kevlar by Michael Radu

Michael Radu comes from an artistic Romanian family that moved to the US when he was a child. He joined his father in operating a foundry to cast art and architectural commissions, but moved to the Catskills to raise his family and create his own business. His original works are mostly in steel, and in other metals, and are a surprise as folk art because they are consciously mid-20 century in style. His chair and side table, as well as his sculpture, would fit into the 20th century glass houses that epitomized the modernist style.

                         Musician Figure, made from musical instruments by John Jackson

John Jackson did not anticipate being captivated by metal fabrication until he found himself already entranced by it while travelling and visiting an artist who showed him a few of his techniques. Since then self-taught, Jackson has become a prolific creator of figures in metal, but metal that comes from a surprising source: discarded tools, equipment, household utensils, and musical instruments. While he makes outdoor sculptures primarily of animals, his collection of figural sculptures includes mostly two-legged creatures in amusing poses and activities: most memorable are the figures made of musical instruments and ones of musicians playing musical instruments.

Whirly Gig, made from VW Beetle part by Hans Hohn

Hans Hohn spends most of his energy in his career as a car mechanic, skills he initially gained from his father who started the business. Hans would tell you he is not an artist, but there are surprising things around his shop that show his tendency to make intriguing things. In the Catskills Folk Connection exhibit will be whirly gigs made from Volkswagen Beetle parts. For the rest of his creations pause on the side of Route 28 in Margaretville to see his business sign, made from half a VW Beetle. You may also be able to see a customer waiting area made from the back seat and back end of a Beetle. If you can look more closely (don’t block the business driveway!) there are on office doors Hans’s rope and pulley door closers, with weights also made from VW parts, simple enough to be a modernist design.

For exhibit viewing, Hanford Mills Museum is open Wednesday through Sunday, 10 am through 4 pm. The address is 51 County Route 12, East Meredith NY 13757. For free admittance to the exhibit, go to the Admissions Office. You may also wish to participate in Museum tours of water-driven wood-working machinery and an overshot water wheel, for which admission is $9.00. Consult the Hanford Mills Museum website for numerous discounts. For more information about tours call the Museum at 607-278-5744. For more about the exhibit “Folk Art in Metal” contact Ginny Scheer at gscheer.mcs@gmail.com.

Don't Forget! Square Dance Soon

Saturday, August 20   1 pm - 4 pm 

Admission Free

Catskills Visitor Center 

5096 State Route 28

Mt. Tremper NY  12457

The Tremperskill Boys will play and call for an old-time Catskills square dance in the pavilion at the Catskills Visitor Center.

Come enjoy traditional Catskills entertainment.  Beginners are welcome.  All dances will be taught.   

Catskills Folk Connection is sponsored by the Roxbury Arts Group and is funded by the NYS Council on the Arts Folk Art Program, by Gov. Hochul and the NYS Legislature, by Action & Vision Grants from HumanitiesNY and by the O'Connor Foundation. 

Catskills Square Dancing Swings on!

Unlike the past two years, August 2022 does not mark a significant rise in Covid infection rates. As a result Catskills Folk Connection is planning more square dances. Of course, should conditions change, we will abide by necessary Covid precautions. Check here just before the dance date to see if there will be additional precautions.

This month, the CFC square dance will be at the Catskills Visitor Center 5906 NY-28, Mt. Tremper NY12457 on Saturday August 20 at 1 p.m. Notice the afternoon time.  The dance will take place in the Center's outdoor pavilion. Tremperskill Boys will again be the band, with the possibility of a special guest.  They will play and call square dances and offer tunes for waltzing, polka and maybe a two-step.

Join us for an afternoon of summer fun.  Families are welcome.  Admission is free. Donations are gratefully accepted. Refreshments will be available. 

Eastern traditional square dancing is a family and community affair.  It derives from the old house dances that were common in the Catskills through the middle of the 20th century.  A farm family would pass the word that there would be a fiddler at their house on Saturday.  Everyone would finish evening milking and go to the designated farm where they would help move the furniture out on the porch (or out on the yard!). The children would snooze on top of the pile of coats in the bedroom and be awakened by their parents for the ride home.  This inclusive community event had a very different origin from the way "western" square dance clubs were formed.  Clubs were extremely popular in urban areas after World War II, with recorded music, a universal curriculum, and required skill levels.  In the country, people just grew up square dancing.

Whether you are an experienced Catskills square dancer, or a newcomer wanting to participate in local traditions, come to the dance on August 20 at the Catskills Visitor Center on Route 28 in Mt. Tremper. For more information refer to our blog www.catskillsfolkconnection.blogspot.com or contact Ginny Scheer 607-326-4206 or gscheer.mcs@gmail.com. dancing.    

Catskills Folk Connection is sponsored by the Roxbury Arts Group and is funded in part by the NYS Council on the Arts Folk Art Program, by Gov. Hochul and the NYS Legislature, by HumanitiesNY’s Action and  and Vision Grants, and by the O’Connor Foundation. 

On the Radio: Catskills Quilts

 On Tuesday, August 2, Catskills Folk, our biweekly radio program on WIOX 91.3 FM, focused on the  quilt show being presented by the Catskill Mountain Quilters Hall of Fame this September.  Lucci Kelly, a member of the Catskill Mountain Quilters, and Pat Cumming, a current inductee into the Hall of Fame, joined folklorist Ginny Scheer in a discussion about quilting, about the history of the Hall of Fame, and about the current biennial exhibit called "A Festival of Quilts." 

The Hall of Fame was formed in 1982 with representation from quilt guilds in four Catskills counties (Ulster, Sullivan, Delaware and Greene) adding Schoharie County in 1983.  Nominations are submitted to the Hall of Fame by the guilds and the inductees are celebrated every other year at the quilt show, displaying their quilts along with submissions by guild members. 

The "Festival of Quilts" will take place 10 am - 4 pm on September 17 and 18 in Roxbury Arts Group's Hilt & Stella Kelly Hall, 5025 Vega Mountain Road, Roxbury, NY  12474.  Admission each day is $5.00.  In addition to a spectacular display of quilting talent, the show will include "A Catskill Mountain Hometown" raffle quilt, door prizes, raffle baskets, Hall of Fame history books, a memorial display of inductees recently passed away, and - on Saturday - the official induction of current nominees.   For more information go to:

 https://www.catskillmountainquiltershalloffame.com/biennial-quilt-show-2020

July 23 Square Dance Covid Update

 

Square Dance Today 7 p.m. at Pine Hill Community Center

287 Main Street Pine Hill NY  12465

Catskills Folk Connection's third in-person square dance will take place in Pine Hill tonight.  The Tremperskill Boys will again offer traditional tunes and dances for beginners as well as experienced dancers.

This blogpost is report is to let you know that as of this afternoon Covid records from CovidActNow.com show Delaware County as low risk and Ulster County as Medium risk.  Infection and hospitalization rates have generally been on a slow rise, a bit more so in Ulster County than  in Delaware County. But the trend just recently tends a bit downward.  

Pine Hill Community Center and Catskills Folk Connection continue their guidance that masks are optional.  Should a new report come in before dance time with different data, we may revise the guidance to "masks recommended."  If it gets to the point that we would have to say "required" we will re-arrange the chairs and have a concert.        

The Center will maintain good ventilation with large outside doors open to encourage air flow.  In addition, because of the heat the center will have its air conditioning turned on in certain areas.

See you at the dance! 

    

Walton Dance June 18 Covid Update

 At present, Delaware County is rated by CovidActNow as having a low infection rate, a medium vaccination rate, and a low and declining hospitalization rate.  These are very encouraging figures as we present our second in-person square dance for the season tonight at 7 pm at the Walton Grange (see article below).  . 

So tonight masks are welcomed, but optional while dancing.  You can add a margin of safety by wearing your mask while dancing and when moving around inside the Grange, also by maintaining social distance.  Further safety can be enhanced by arriving with a group of people to dance with and staying with that group. 

Join us for an enjoyable night of familiar - and a few new - square dances with time to waltz in between.

See you at the Grange!

--- Ginny Scheer, Folklorist, Catskills Folk Connection 

  

Old-Time Square Dance Walton Grange June 18 [Pinkster recordings are just below.]

 A Toe-Tapping Good Time To be Had by All 

A Traditional Round and Square Dance at the

Walton Grange, 135 Stockton Avenue

Saturday, June 18 at 7 pm

featuring The Tremperskill Boys

"Kick up your heels" is the apt phrase for enthusiastic dancers at a Catskills Folk Connection square dance.  But don't think that the fun is not for beginners.  At CFC dances, all square dances are taught so beginners can participate from the outset.  And remember that we welcome listeners who want to hear the old, familiar tunes - and maybe some new ones too!  

At the western edge of Delaware County, Walton has a rich tradition of music and dance.  It was the home of the Catskills ballad singer (and fiddler, and square dance caller) Grant Rogers, and has an active group of dancers from town and from surrounding communities.  Walton is also the home of the Walton Theatre which hosts music performers on its big stage and in its "coffeehouse," all planned by a sister-organization, Music on the Delaware. 

Walton Grange, #1454, is still active, run by local management.

Many people know the Walton Grange's location because it is at the turn everyone must take to get to the Delaware County Fair, proudly called "the Walton Fair."  It has also been the site of numerous town functions, including many square dances. If you are driving west from Delhi on St. Route 10, after entering Walton turn left at the traffic light. If you are driving east from Masonville or Trout Creek, turn right at the light. This is Bridge Street (also 206) and it leads directly to the Grange, the brick structure visible opposite the other end of the bridge. Some, like Wikipedia, mistake the former Armory, with its crenellated towers, for the Grange. The Grange is immediately left of the Armory which has been known as the "Castle on the Delaware."  

At 7 pm Saturday, June 18, the Tremperskill Boys will start the music for a traditional old-time square dance with John Jacobson and Dane Scudder, fiddlers and callers.  Accompanying them will be Amy Lieberman on bass fiddle, Sheila Addison on guitar, and Ginny Scheer on flute.  It will be an evening of familiar squares, with a few new ones thrown in, plus round (couple) dances and songs 

Masks are recommended, and by the 18th may be required, due to the unpredictability of Covid infection rates. The safest plan for dancers would be to wear a mask and to arrive in a group of eights, and dance only with that group. (Square dances are usually much more democratic than this, but these are not typical times!) Windows and doors will be open as much as possible to increase ventilation and seating can be arrange for social distancing  Check here just before the dance to see if Covid data has caused the dance to be moved to an outdoor location or to be changed to a concert. For more information, contact Ginny Scheer at gscheer.mcs@gmail.com or 607-326-4206. 

Catskills Folk Connection's square dances follow the Eastern tradition of rural family dancing.  This is not the kind of dance where you have to show a certificate of achievement in order to participate!  There are certain conventions and regional variations in Eastern square dance, but we'll make sure everyone knows about them .

Granges and community halls were common sites for square dances through most of the 20th century. In the 19th century, and for a time in the 20th, a dance was more likely to be organized as a "house dance." A farm family would put the word out and hire a fiddler. Guests would arrive after evening milking and would help move the living room and dining room furniture out of the way (onto the porch...even onto the lawn!).  The fiddler would set up between the two rooms, perhaps accompanied by a neighbor on the piano, or another musician on guitar, and call dances so familiar that everyone knew them.  Like the children who came to the dance with their families, the dancers had grown up going to house dances and might sing the calls along with the caller.  

Join us for a night of community fun and enjoyable music.  See you at the Grange!

Catskills Folk Connection is sponsored by the Roxbury Arts Group and is funded in part by the New York State Council on the Arts Folk Art Program, by Gov. Hochul and the NYS Legislature, by HumanitiesNY Action & Vision Grants, and by the O'Connor Foundation.

 

 

  

     

Pinkster Recordings for WIOX Listeners, Who Missed Them

A Pinkster Player represents Sojourner Truth
 as the 2022 Pinkster Walk winds through the historic neighborhood. 

Last Sunday was the celebration of the First Annual Pinkster Festival, organized in Kington NY on June 5 by TransArt Inc., and featuring musicians, historical players, and others in a multi-faceted event whose theme was "Joy is an Act of Resistance."    

Link: 2022 June 5 Pinkster Walk with "Dancing the Plank"  The Pinkster Festival began with a worship service in the Old Dutch Church, Kingston, NY.  It consisted of songs, stories from the Bible about Pentecost, that was celebrated by Dutch settlers,  and stories performed by the Pinkster Players about Pinkster as a 200-year tradition among Africans enslaved in the Hudson Valley. Then everyone went outside for the Pinkster Walk, accompanied by elaborate drum rhythms, to the church Sojourner Truth attended, and then on the the "Assembly Green for the festival itself.  

The festival offered booths that had, for example, samples of Dutch-African foodways, African games, as well as things for sale.  One booth, representing a local vegetable farm was giving away salad makings, greens, and flowers - for free! The Players entertained the festival with interactive demonstrations of body percussion and drumming.

 Link: 2022 June 5 Pinkster Festival Players Engage Audience in "Hambone"   Chief Baba Neil Clarke introduces the idea of "Polyrhythm".  A Pinkster Player (whose name I missed) tells the audience that enslaved Africans had not been able to bring their musical instruments, so they invented ways to make familiar sounds and rhythms with their bodies.  To a simple stomping rhythm he adds more complex rhythms until the audience can play along with him in a call and response song.  

Next year, watch for the second annual Pinkster Festival in early June, about 5 weeks after Easter, the approximate time of Pentecost.  Be prepared participate in African traditional rhythms, dance, games, foods, and joy.   

More Resources on the History of Slavery and the Pinkster Festival

 

Photo from Wycoff Historic House Museum Pinkster Festival 2022

Catskills Folk Connection's folklorist, Ginny Scheer, interviewed Chief Baba Neil Clarke (right, above) on Tuesday, May 24 on her WIOX radio program, Catskills Folk  (www.wioxradio.org).  The Chief, a well-known scholar in African American music and history, as well as a master drummer, described the efforts of white slave owners and their governments to "erase" African culture - its languages, religions,  music traditions, and family connections.  The people captured and transported from Africa could not bring any of their material culture,  But they could bring their skills, talents and aesthetics and eventually apply them in their new surroundings.  Given a chance, such as the freedom of the Pinkster Festival, when owners gave enslaved people the day off and even allowed them to travel to other communities, outlawed music instruments and other practices appeared   

Chief Baba Neil Clarke is one of the organizers of the Pinkster Festivals being celebrated up and down the Hudson River Valley, with Kingston the closest one to the Catskills Region.  See this blog's previous article and go to TransArt & Cultural Services for more information about the Pinkster Festival on June 4 & 5 in Highland NY and Kingston, NY.   

Audio recordings used in the WIOX broadcast with Chief Baba Neil Clarke came from two interviews done as part of a virtual Pinkster celebration at Wycoff Historic House Museum.  One, used as background for the radio program, examines the history of African slavery in America as context for the Pinkster Festival.   Melissa Branfman from Wycoff House and Meredith Horsford from Dyckman House interview Lavada Nahon, culinary scholar and interpreter of African American Traditions for the NYS OPRHP and Chief Baba Neil Clarke in this 49 minute recording:  Lavada Nahon & Chief Baba Neil Clarke

The second recording was excerpted on the air sharing brief interviews with musicians Orjeño Enrique Prince (fiddle) and Ayoudele Maarkeru (banjo) and a longer demonstration by Chief Baba Neil Clarke about drumming - how it fit in the Pinkster Festival and helped perpetuate musical traditions that were part of the development of jazz. This recoding is about 13 minutes long:  Virtual Pinkster Music

I hope you enjoy these links. Click on the words "TransArt & Cultural Services" to go to information about the June 4 & 5 Pinkster Festival.  The words are not underlined and are not in blue.  Click on the words "Lavada Nahon & Chief Baba Neil Clarke" for the longer, historical interview.  Click on the words "Virtual Pinkster Music" for the interview with the musicians at Wycoff House's virtual  Pinkster Festival.  Please let me know if you have any trouble accessing them.  Ginny: gscheer.mcs@gmail.com.

Pinkster Festival June 4 & 5

                                                                        Congolese Dancers                                                            

Photo from TransArt & Cultural Services

The Pinkster Festival on June 4 and 5  is a contemporary expression of this historical celebration that occurred for over 200 years in the Hudson River Valley.   This year it is taking place in Highland  and Kingston NY and offers African and African American music, dance and foodways, re-enactments, a Sojourner Truth play, festival vendors and much more.

 

For more information go to the website of this year's producers of the Pinkster Festival TransArt & Cultural Services:   TransArt & Cultural Services:  You may be asked to click through.

Activities begin at 2 PM in Highland Park NY at the Sojourner Truth Statue/Walkway Over the Hudson Park Visitor’s Center, with the Congolese Dancers performing African dance in remembrance of the traditions the earliest captured Africans brought with them to the Americas. Then at 2:45 pm at the same site a short play about abolitionist and suffragist Sojourner Truth, "Raw Truth," will be presented, followed at 4 pm by an on-line offering "Seeking Truth," a virtual museum that tells the life story of Sojourner Truth.

On Sunday at 10:30 am at the Old Dutch Church, 272 Wall St. Kingston NY 12401, the festivities begin with a presentation by the Pinkster Players "Joy is an Act of Resistance," then a panel discussion including Lavada Naron, culinary scholar and interpreter of African American Traditions at NYS OPRHP, and Chief Baba Neil Clarke, scholar of African American history and music and well-known percussionist. The panel will talk about the Pinkster Festival in the context of the history of slavery in America, of slavery's negative impact on the continuity of cultural traditions of enslaved people, and on the cultural identity of African Americans today.

Gather at noon on Sunday for the Pinkster Walk at 1 pm, proceeding from the Old Dutch Church to St James Church and ending at the Academy Green for the festival proper. There until 6 pm you will find contemporary and historic music and dance, including the Congolese dancers, the Sojourner Truth play, the Pinkster Players, Afro-Dutch foodways, a percussion ensemble, and many festival vendors.

Come enjoy one of the oldest traditional festivals in the Catskill-Hudson River region!

For more information about the the Pinkster Festival, the history of slavery and its cultural impact, see the next article. "More Resources".  

Update May 21 Square Dance

 The square dance is ON! Join us tomorrow night, May 21, 7 pm 

 at the Halcott Grange  for a toe tapping evening of Catskills tunes,

 old-time melodies, and some other favorites.

We hope you will join us for our first scheduled round and square dance in two and a half years!  With Covid and heat precautions, we will gather at a traditional  local square dance venue, the Halcott Grange, north of Fleischmanns in Halcott Center.  The address is 264 County Route 3, Halcott NY.  

Simplest Directions: 

From NYS Route 28 follow Fleischmanns' Main St. to the only gas station.  Coming from the east, turn right; from the west, turn left.  You will go almost 3 miles on Delaware County Route 37.  At the county line the Route will change to Greene County Route 3.  Less that 1/4 mile ahead you will see the Grange on the right, with a big dairy barn on the left.  You may not have cell service while following these directions and the first part of the road is very rough.  

Parking:  Parking will be just past the Grange on the right, also just before the Grange on Ursum Road going toward the transfer station, or last resort along the right side of the road past the Grange.

Back Road Directions (better road conditions, but more complicated directions): 

From Route 30 south out of Roxbury, 4.5 mi. south, turn left on County Route 8, then 2.8 mi. (up hill and down: jog left just past John Shultis Road) and turn right on County Route 36.  This is the main road the length of the Denver-Vega Valley.  Go 1 mile, then take second left (the one after John B. Hewitt Road) on Dimmick Mountain Road; go 1.41 Mi, where Dimmick become Big Red Kill Road.

Go on .29 mi and turn left on Little Red Kill Road.  Go 1.08 and turn left on Basil Todd Road.  Go .11 mi. staying  straight on Streeter Hill  Road.  Go 1.14 Mi and turn left on Breezy Hill Rd.  Go .33 mi to a Y and take a slight right onto Halcott Road. Go .42 mi to County Route 37.  This is the main road the length of the Halcott valley. 

Turn a slanted left onto Route 37 and go 1 mi. At this point County Route 37 becomes Greene County Route 3.  Go .62 miles to the Halcott Grange, on your right.  The Grange is across the road from a big dairy barn.     Note: one set of directions says that the distance into Greene County is .25 mi, and this one says it is .62 mi.  There is wifi at the Grange.

Coming from the west from Margaretville: From Main Street, go north on State Route 30 for 3.60 miles.  Turn right (at Kelly Corners) onto County 36.  Go 2.94 mi and turn right on Dimmick Mountain Road (post office with flag on your right)).  Use directions from Roxbury from Dimmick Mountain Road to the Halcott Grange.  

Coming from the east from Highmount/Pine Hill:  From State Route 28 go into Fleischmanns and drive the length of Main Street.  Just past the Valkyrie Motel on the left and River Run B&B on the left, turn right on Big Red Kill Road.  Go 1.57 mi. and turn right on Little Red Kill Road.  Use the directions from Roxbury form Little Red Kill Road.  

The band:

The Tremperskill Boys band usually plays for Catskills Folk Connection square dances, continuing the tradition of Hilt Kelly & His Sidekicks with tunes they often played and dances they commonly called.  This Saturday night Catskills Folk Connection will offer a lively program with two guest musicians, Earl Pardini and Pete Halvorsen playing with the Tremperskill Boys.  

Earl is a well-known dance caller and fiddler, and Pete plays mandolin and fiddle.  Earl and Pete agreed to come on short notice when we found that three of the Tremperskill  Boys (count them, three!) are out of commission. One is taking care of a hospitalized family member, another has an on-going medical condition, and the third fell and injured her shoulder.  But the dance will go on!

Health and Safety:

Covid precautions, in light of current data, will at minimum be for CFC to suggest masks.  For added safety, you can plan to dance with the same group all evening - bring them with you and or find folks you know after you arrive. Masks and hand sanitizer will be available.  For the predicted heat, we will be offering iced drinks, and plenty of cold bottled water.  Downstairs at the Grange is a good spot to cool off.  At any time dancers and audience members can suggest to CFC staff that we should convert the event from dancing to a concert with socially-distanced seating.     

See you at the dance!

   

      

   

Square Dancing Returns! May 21st at Halcott Grange

 

"Left Hand Star!"

If you have enjoyed square dancing in the past .. or think you might like to try it - now's the time.  Catskills Folk Connection is once again offering in-person square dances at locations in and around Delaware County.  

Just over the Delaware County line in Halcott - north of Fleischmanns -  on Saturday, May 21 at 7 pm the Tremperskill Boys will play for a traditional old-time square dance with John Jacobson and Dane Scudder, fiddlers and callers.  Accompanying them there at the Halcott Grange will be Amy Lieberman on bass fiddle, Sheila Addison on guitar, and Ginny Scheer on flute.  It will be an evening of familiar squares, with a few new ones thrown in, round (couple) dances and songs.  All dances will be taught.

One of the featured callers, Dane Scudder, grew up in Halcott and attended many dances at the Grange.  He has been heard to say that before he left for college, the main source of live music in his life was Hilt Kelly and the Sidekicks at the Halcott Grange.

  

Granges and community halls were common sites for square dances through most of the 20th century. In the 19th century, and for a time in the 20th, a dance was more likely to be organized as a  "house  dance."  A farm family would put out the word and hire a fiddler.  Guests would arrive after evening milking and would help move the living room and dining room furniture out of the way ( on to the porch...even on to the lawn!).  The fiddler would set up between the two rooms, perhaps accompanied by a neighbor on the piano, or another musician on guitar, and call dances so familiar that everyone knew them.  Like the children who came to the dance with their families, the dancers had grown up going to house dances and might sing the calls along with the caller.  

The Halcott Grange is at 264 Route 3 in Halcott Center, a large agricultural valley north of Fleischmanns.  From Route 28, from either direction, turn off into Fleischmanns.  From Main Street turn by the gas station on to Lake Street (County Route 37); approaching from the east it is a right turn; from the west it is a left turn. Go a little less than 3 miles where you will see a sign that the road number has changed to County Route 3.  You will have just crossed into Greene County.  Go about a quarter of mile further, and the grange will be on the right.   

Masks are recommended, and by the 21st may be required, due to the unpredictability of Covid infection rates. The safest plan for dancers would be to plan to wear a mask and to arrive in a group of eight, and dance only with that group.  (Square dances are usually much more democratic than this, but these are not typical times!) Windows and doors will be open as much as possible to increase ventilation, and seating can be arranged for social distancing.  Check here just before the dance to see if Covid data has caused the dance to be moved to an outdoor location or to be changed to a concert.

For more information contact Ginny Scheer at gscheer.mcs@gmail.com or  607-326-4206.

We hope you will be able to attend Catskills Folk Connection's first square dance in over two years!

See you in Halcott at the Grange on Saturday May 21 at 7 pm. 

Catskills Folk Connection is sponsored by the Roxbury Arts Group, and is funded in part by the NYS Council on the Arts Folk Art Program, by Gov. Hochul and the NYS Legislature, by Action and Vision Grants from HumanitiesNY, and by the O'Connor Foundation.